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Football: Surgery necessaryJoshua Parrott • jparrott@theadvertiser.com • November 10, 2010 UL will be down to its third-string quarterback for Saturday’s game at Florida Atlantic. After junior Brad McGuire met with team doctors Tuesday, it was decided that he would undergo season-ending surgery on a torn thumb ligament in his throwing hand. McGuire replaced injured starter Chris Masson in the first quarter at Ohio two weeks ago and threw for 384 yards with two touchdowns and one interception despite hurting his thumb. He started last week but finished 7-of-21 passing for 139 yards with two interceptions and one touchdown after injuring his thumb again. With McGuire out and Masson’s knee still not healthy, the Cajuns (2-7, 2-3 Sun Belt) plan to give sophomore Blaine Gautier his first collegiate start Saturday at FAU (3-5, 2-3). His backup will be walk-on sophomore Brady Thomas, who has never played in a game for the Cajuns. "I didn’t talk with Brad today, but I think he was kind of expecting that news," UL coach Rickey Bustle said. "I was kind of expecting him to need surgery." Gautier has completed 11-of-24 passes this season for 110 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns and has rushed for 71 yards and three scores on 31 carries. Last year he was 9-of-17 passing for 119 yards and one TD and rushed for 24 yards and one score on 14 attempts. During his prep days, Gautier was an all-state selection as a junior and senior at Lutcher. He led Lutcher to the 2006 Class 3A state title during his junior season. As a senior he won the Warrick Dunn WAFB Player of the Year award as the top player in the Baton Rouge area after accounting for 47 TDs, including 30 in the air. "It’s unfortunate that those two guys went down," Gautier said. "But I’m ready for my opportunity." Battle at the topThe top two teams in the Sun Belt will face off Saturday when Florida International plays at Troy. While Troy leads the league with a 4-1 conference mark, FIU is a close second at 3-1. The Trojans have won at least a share of four consecutive Sun Belt titles. Troy held on to beat North Texas last week, 41-35. FIU beat ULM in double overtime, 42-35, a week ago as receiver T.Y. Hilton had 291 all-purpose yards and four TDs. "Our team is very focused on what’s at stake, what’s on tap this week," FIU coach Mario Cristobal said. "We go Mondays instead of Sundays. Sundays for the players is an off day, but I know our building here was filled up with guys watching film, as they usually do. Those seniors have done a good job of maintaining and helping those players get a mindset of what the process is."
Prime-time blowoutArkansas State scored its most points of the season in a 51-24 blowout of Middle Tennessee on Nov. 2 on ESPN2. It was the largest margin of victory for the Red Wolves, who racked up a season-high 493 yards, since a 52-21 win over UL in 2007. Arkansas State can become bowl eligible by beating at least two of its remaining three opponents: Western Kentucky, Navy and FIU. "We moved the football every time we got it," Arkansas State coach Steve Roberts said after the game. "We punted one time during the course of the game, and I thought we had some guys up front that really paved the way for a lot of great things to happen both running the football and throwing the football." Extra points
ULM sophomorereceiver Brett Leonard is second nationally with three fourth-down catches this season. Leonard has 27 receptions for 309 yards on the year "» FAU improved to 26-15 in games decided by no more than a touchdown with last week’s 17-16 win over WKU "» After a 41-35 home loss to Troy, UNT has dropped four of its five games at Fouts Field by no more than atouchdown.
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